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Sunday, August 3, 2008

A Great Vacation

Okay.. so I finally have time to catch up. It's been incredibly busy around the Santos home over the last few days. Vacations are nice but the week after is not! I've already posted our pictures so here's a little about the actual vacation.

We arrived at the airport in Montgomery, Alabama around 10pm Eastern time. With a fussy little girl and another 2 crying hours in the Honda Ridgeway, I was ready to crash by the time we got to my in-law's home in Crestview, Florida.

Tuesday and Wednesday we were able to recuperate, rest and relax - it was nice! We all went on a dolphin cruise Tuesday night. We saw a few in the distance but nothing close. The boat was named Hannah Marie - which was pretty cool considering our daughter's name is Hannah Mai.

Hannah and Papa Ben on the "Hannah Marie"

Mama Tess, Hannah, me and James before parasailing

Wednesday, James and I went parasailing (my first time!) in Destin. Mama Tess paid the way and watched Hannah for us while we were gone. Quite the blessing! I was expecting it to be a little more like a roller coaster so I was surprised with it's peacefulness.

Before Take Off.

Preparing to Land.

Thursday, we drove about four and a half hours south to visit our friends, the Redmonds, in Gainesville. We enjoyed their great company, parenting wisdom and friendship over night. That was a sweet time. They have five wonderful children and just found out they are expecting again! Yay! Too bad we didn't think to get a group picture!

Friday, before we headed home, we got to visit with my old high school best friend Rachel (Rehberg) Toldoya and her kiddos. That was cool! I haven't seen her in about 8 years so it was a treat. She is currently living in Tampa and made the 2 hr drive up to see us while we were in Gainesville. We both ended up marrying Filipinos (how ironic). ;)

L to R: Hannah, Me, Rebecca, Rachel, Gabriel.

After another four and a half hour drive, we rested back in Crestview Friday evening. Saturday was busy with preparations as Mama Tess (my mother-in-law), was having a jewelry party for me. We did a little shopping, came home and prepared for the event. She amazingly set a new record show for me with over $1000 in sales! In addition to that, she earned nearly $600 in free jewelry and insisted that I use it all to increase my samples and grow my business! What a wonderful treat!

Sunday morning was bright and early as we left around 3:45am to head back to the airport. The flights home were much more smooth than the way down and Hannah did beautifully!

Overall, though it sounds busy, it was a really smooth, restfilled, peaceful, blessed week! We could not have asked for more. We are so thankful for Mama Tess and Papa Ben's generosity in everything. The trip would not have happened without their help.

Now that we're back to the "real world," things have picked back up. May God keep reminding us of the important things.